


Tender Curiosity

by Abarero



Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: F/F, Falling In Love, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-15
Updated: 2017-08-15
Packaged: 2018-12-15 15:14:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11808600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Abarero/pseuds/Abarero
Summary: It was rare, Panne had told her, for someone to be so curious about her people. And detecting the slightest hint of excitement from Panne at being asked, Robin found herself asking everything she could imagine.With every question answered, Robin felt something in the relationship between them change.





	Tender Curiosity

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ideallyqualia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ideallyqualia/gifts).



> Oh gosh I was so excited to get a prompt for this pairing, as they are one of my favorites and it's so rare! I hope you enjoy this as much as I did writing it!

Robin was a naturally curious person.

 

Words, information, knowledge- every little bit of it she yearned to absorb into her bones, to fill all those vacant spaces where her memories of childhood and life before the Shepherds should be with something at least useful. She was a tactician, after all, and knowledge was a weapon she intended to wield. The more she had, the stronger she could be.

 

It made her, perhaps, a bit too curious at times.

 

Sometimes, in her excitement to know more, she’d forget that not everyone was a book to be read. Not everyone had stories they wanted to tell or knowledge they wanted to share. Chrom had reassured her that no one amongst their eclectic ranks thought less of her for it, but Robin still found herself worrying that she’d perhaps crossed a line.

 

She worried most of all about Panne.

 

Taguel culture was elusive, most of it spread by word of mouth from generation to generation. Humans had never seen the need to respect it enough to document it outside some passing mentions, and although Robin feared it would be painful subject, she also wanted to know.

 

She’d been so prepared to argue her case, that Panne’s ease at sharing completely surprised her. It was rare, Panne had told her, for someone to be so curious about her people. And detecting the slightest hint of excitement from Panne at being asked, Robin found herself asking everything she could imagine.

 

With every question answered, Robin felt something in the relationship between them change. She’d gone out of her way to cook something just for Panne after saying something she worried was insensitive, and next thing she knew, Panne was requesting it from her. A line had been crossed, somewhere, somehow; for how else could she explain how incredibly different things were between them?

 

Panne never seemed bothered by Robin’s presence, or her questions, but still she worried that somehow she’d done something wrong.

 

Why else was their relationship so vastly unlike all the others Robin had?

 

As the winter thaw gave way into spring, the moods of many Shepherds changed with the weather. That was normal, Robin knew, and she absently wondered if perhaps that’s all it was, that strange feeling in wintertime that all living things seemed to feel.

 

She’d almost forgotten about her worries when a sudden snowfall fell upon the camp one night and for the first time, Robin knew which line she wanted to cross.

 

For now, in the quiet of the snow, it dawned on her that Panne had opened her doors wide from their first meeting onward. There had never been any lines to cross, because Panne had never held Robin at a distance, had welcomed her in right away and spent hours upon hours drawing her closer and closer. What had started as curiosity, had grown, blossoming now into a flower that was waiting to be noticed.

 

A flower that like those early blooms of the spring, Robin realized, might not last one more night of winter.

 

Soft snow crunching beneath her boots, Robin made her way across the camp to Panne’s tent armed with all that she could carry. A taguel moulted with the seasons, layers of thicker fur giving way to a summer coat when winter turned to spring. Robin knew this now because Panne had shared it, along with so many other things, with her.

 

Like her certain affection for a carrot stew that others deemed inedible.

 

“Robin? Is that you?”

 

As always, she could hear her coming. It always gave Robin’s heart a little jolt, but tonight her heart was racing even more so than usual. At least now, Robin had a feeling she knew why.

 

“I’ve got uh...some stuff. Can I come in?”

 

Panne pulled back the flap of the tent and gave her a look at finding Robin practically buried in the armful of items she carried.

 

“If you needed help, you only had to ask.”

 

Robin shook her head, the dampness where the snow had melted against her skin now giving her a slight shiver.

 

“You shouldn’t be out in this snow any more than you have to,” she insisted, handing over a pot of her stew. “Here, it should still be mostly warm. And,” she pulled the bundle of blankets out of her arms and draped it around Panne’s shoulders, “this should help as well.”

 

Panne starred and for one terrifying moment, Robin thought she’d gotten it all wrong.

 

But then she laughed, just that almost silent chuckle that lit up her eyes like the stars themselves were shining from them, and Robin felt her heart settle in her chest.

 

“You remembered,” Panne said. It wasn’t a question, but a reassurance. A warmth of knowledge that had passed between them.

 

“We don’t have a lot of spare blankets with us, so I had to make do, but…”

 

“So, you have sacrificed your own?”

 

Robin’s cheeks burned, but deep down she’d known Panne would have realized it.

 

“I’ve got my coat at least…”

 

Panne set down the pot on a nearby chair, and held out a hand.

 

“Robin, if it’s all right with you, the taguel do have a way of keeping warm. But I cannot achieve it alone.”

 

Panne’s hand was cold against her own and Robin could feel the hesitance in her grip. They both knew, could feel it in the air, that this would change things between them.

 

For there had only ever been one line between them, that between friendship and something more. A line that Robin and Panne had both been ever so slowly edging across bit by bit. They’d crossed it when Robin had gotten injured in a battle and Panne had licked the wound on her cheek while carrying her to safety. They’d crossed it when Robin had helped Panne brush and braid her hair, her hands lingering far more than they should.

 

They’d crossed it when Robin came that very night to Panne with her bedding, knowing fully well how taguel warrens would huddle together for warmth.

 

It had been an invitation without a single word.

 

A testament to the devotion Robin had for her and her alone.

 

A wish that perhaps Panne could come to see Robin as a loved member of her warren.

 

A request to cross that line, and perhaps, this time to not turn back.

 

“I don’t want you to ever be alone again,” Robin breathed out.

 

“Robin…”

 

“I’ll stay, as long as you wish me to.”

 

She offered up a smile, nervous and unsure. There was no turning back now.

 

Panne closed the space between them, her arms around Robin’s waist pulling her close and her warm breath against her ear.

 

“Forever, Robin. Would you stay forever?”

 

Robin reached out as well, her hands warm against Panne’s hips as they tugged her closer, their warmth now shared between them.

 

“I’d love to.”

 

And that distant question, the one that Robin had thought about so much but had never dared to ask, was finally answered.

 

A nuzzle of noses or foreheads, was a sign of great affection.

 

A taguel’s kiss, was soft and gentle.

 

And sometimes, when they were extremely happy, they might even peck little licks and kisses all over their love’s face until they were both laughing and smiling.

 

That was when you would know for certain, a taguel was in love.


End file.
